Oblivion was wondering around the streets, of course smoking some of the finest Tegridy weed, until he found the perfect soap box to make his big announcement. He stepped up to it, and stood tall and proud, before stepping off and back up again, laughing. The feeling of “growing” and then “shrinking” was quite funny to him currently, what was in Tegridy again? Alas, he cleared his throat and pulled out a few sheets of paper before beginning to speak.

Hello everyone, thank you for your attention today. It is with great honor that I announce the grand opening of The Black Oak Ranch Thoroughbred Club! This will be the premier horse racing destination around. Based in Seattle, we will be offering weekly races, that pale in comparison to even the Kentucky Derby!

He took a brief break to take a sip of water to moisten his throat, and then continued.

How it works is simple. Each race, to start taking place once a week, will consist of 10 horses. Of these 10, 9 can be bet on, and 1 will be the House Horse, owned by the Club. Odds for all 10 horses will be released prior to betting opening, and the House horse will be the last one remaining after the first 9 bets. At this time, there will be no maximum bet, however we are asking a minimum bet of 1 million to begin.

Prizes will be released as follows; 1st place will receive the grand total of all bets, minus a 10% rake and some cost associated with 2nd and 3rd. 2nd place will receive their entire bet back, with no loss. 3rd place will receive a percentage that will roughly equate to half of their bet. We will release the first 10 bets imminently.

Oblivion smiled to those around him, and then handed out the initial bets.

(OOC: Here is a Back Alley for further information on the practical aspects of the race, and betting; https://mafiareturns.com/comm/thread/1389024/tpass/cf639078b801f2cd019233d0035bb96f#21512541)

Oblivion hammered a few pages to a board, conveniently behind him, detailing the odds for the first 10 horses.

Alright everyone! The time is now. We have our first ten horses all trained up and ready to go! Introducing our competitors, first up we have Broken Arrow (6), followed by Say What (4)! I’m telling you now, these two looks evenly matched. Next up, we have Lil Sugar (5), on the tails of our longshot for the evening, Ransom (49)! The rest of our cast is as follows; Krugerrand (4), DJ (10), Naksup (21), Point Taken (4), Marama (5), and finally, Disco (14)!

We will be taking bets until the first 9 horses are selected. I will then announce the time of the race, followed shortly by the race itself. Let’s win some money!

He turned and stepped away from the platform, to allow others to have a look at the board.

(OOC: Here is the pre-race.)

How much for RANSOM to bet on

Orion strode to the ticket window, his hands tucked firmly within his pockets. Smiling warmly at the ticket agent he produce to large stacks of cash from either pocket, placing them on the counter and sliding them forward. 

”Million on Broken Arrow if you don’t mind, Lass.”

He took the ticket from the agent before stuffing it into his vest pocket as he pulled a cigarette and stuck it between his lips. He fished for his lighter for a brief moment before sparking it up and drawing a deep inhale.

Oblivion glanced around before pulling a slim silver flask from his chest pocket and taking a long swig. He placed it back where it came from and stepped up to the same platform as before.

Hello everyone! I’m here today to announce the initial race will take place on Friday, November 1 at 16:10. Immediately following the race will be the grand opening spectacular, to celebrate. There will be all the food, and drink, you can imagine. Come get a taste of JohnWalton’s famous whiskey, and if the cops turn a blind eye, get some of Seattle’s finest Tegridy weed! See you there!

He smiled and waved at those that had gathered, before stepping off the platform and making his way to the stables to check on the horses.

Mikhail wondered up to get a closer look of the operation... he liked what he saw. Horse racing was where it was at in this day. It was fun, it was good to cheer for something other than a rival gangster's death. It was nice to get out once in awhile. He wanted to make sure the first race was a successful run and he asked a few friends to get in on the action.

"Hey comrades, lets jump in on this."

He looked over to BringMeLuck, JustinBieber, and Dmitry. 

"BringMeLuck thinks she has all the luck in the world... I don't quite believe that. I have $1,000,000 on Ransom. LETS GO! I NEED TO WIN SOME SERIOUS CASH!"

Justin Looks around then Looks at his ticket $500,000 on Perfect Dream!

He then runs away to hide from the 100's of fans chasing him down the street and Takes a seat with mikhail Bringmeluck and Dmitry

Dmitry, a man of few words and takes one look at both krugerrand and naksup and says one word.. ‘powerful’

Then bets 4m krugerrand and 1m naksup

As he joins his comrades, Dmitry cracks open a fresh bottle of vodka in wait of the celebration.

The race was a frantic pace as usual, taking a grand total of 79 seconds. The horses all sprinted their hearts out, exiting the gate going head to head. It didn’t take long for Say What to assert himself on the field, finishing with a stunning 32 seconds. He was followed closely by Krugerrand in 34 seconds. Krugerrand was followed by Perfect Dream following behind the pack in 41 seconds. Even further behind was DJ rolling across the finish line in 52 seconds. From there, Ransom made a stunning run to a top 5 finish in 58 seconds, followed by Marama (64 seconds), Naksup (64 seconds), Lil Sugar (68 seconds), Disco (77 seconds) and our last place horse is Broken Arrow, who despite having great odds at 6, finished the race in 79 seconds coming in last.

After the race, the horses were tested for performance enhancing drugs, and it was discovered that Say What had an alarming amount of steroids in his system, and as such was disqualified, making the new winner….. Krugerrand! (OOC: No bets placed on Say What, Disco was named as House horse. Therefore, Say What was removed from the equation in getting payouts.)

Thank you everyone for participating! I would like to now announce our winners. Due to Krugerrand winning the race Dmitry will be paid out at 9.1 million. Our second place winner Perfect Winner will pay JustinBieber his bet of 500k! And rounding out the winners, Toaly will also take home 500k due to the performance of DJ! Once again, thank you all. We are open to suggestion for how to make this race even better!

(OOC: Here is the Post-Race)  

Orion pushed off of the pillar, taking a long drag from his smoke as he crumpled up his ticket and tossed it into the trash. Better luck next time, he thought to himself with a small sigh. It certainly broke up the monotony that he could sometimes find himself slipping into. Making a mental note to stay in the loop for the next race, he tucked his hands into his pockets and headed out to the next venture.

Orion tapped his foot patiently, occasionally glancing at the watch the dangled from his pocket. With the way the streets were churning right now, a solid distraction was needed.

Slipping a cigarette from his vest pocket he let it hang in between his lips for a moment before fishing out his lighter. He watched the flame dance for a moment as he drew in a sharp inhale. He held it for as long as he could as he let his eyes wash over the board. As soon as the horses were announced, he’d be the first in line. Just like everything else, it was a gamble, but one that he didn’t mind taking.

Phillip had only heard the horse races on the radio growing up. The way the announcers painted a picture for him, he knew that if he ever had the chance he would have to see a race in person. His nerves threatened to shake him for a bit, he had never placed a wager on anything before and was suddenly starting to feel very much so out of his element. 

He nervously tapped his foot as he stared up at the chalkboard, trying to make heads or tails of all the names and numbers that were sprawled across it. He fished into his pocket quickly, turning his back on the small crowd and counting his bills as fast as he could before tucking them away again.

There was still some time before he needed to make a decision so he went about settling in, finding a corner to sit down in where he could listen to his surroundings, maybe catch a conversation from someone with a bit more knowledge on horses then he had himself. 

Again, PhillipMarleau is spotted nervously fidgeting with his hands in his pockets in public.  What is it you're always doing in those pockets of yours?  It's practically inappropriate.  It's like you can't help yourself.  

Destro shakes his head and elbows the man next to him.

Look at PhillipMarleau, afraid to place a bet on a horserace.  Foot-tapping anxiously, clammy hands stuffed in his pockets fondling away as usual.  You ever seen such a sad state of affairs at a mob hangout before in your life?

Everyone laughs at Phillip's expense, even though they had indeed seen something almost equally sad the other day when a man was spotted picking a wet cigarette butt from a puddle and putting it in his mouth.

Perhaps the horsetrack isn't for you.  Maybe somewhere a little less public would suit you better.  You could cram your hands in your pockets all day long and be free of judgement and ridicule.

Destro makes his way over to the betting cages with a wad of cash in his hand leaving Phillip and his hands to their private business.

Phillip couldn’t help but laugh at the joke of a man who moved to the ticket window and placed his bets. The fact that there wasn’t actual a race to bet on at the moment made it even funnier to him. Maybe this person was a psychic or maybe, he was just bat shit crazy. That option seemed much more plausible of the two. Then again, crazy people never actually know that they are crazy after all.

Deciding it wasn’t worth the effort of dealing with a so called “super villain” he decided to turn his attention else where, unfortunately where Destro seemed to go, garbage always followed.